From the outside, Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts looks like an impressive Georgian building…read morethat is home to important academics. In actual fact, it's an all singing, all dancing facility where students are encouraged to live out their Glee and Fame fantasies! Built in 1825, the building was originally used as a school for boys with past students including Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Hearing the building was empty and neglected in the late eighties, McCartney joined forces with entepeneur and Brit School founder Mark Featherstone-Witty to regenerate and re-open the building as a higher education facility for creatives. After a seven year struggle and mulit-million pound investment, the doors open in 1996 offering students diplomas, degrees and post-graduate programmes in everything from Performing Arts, Music, Dance and Sound Technology to Entertainment Management and Theatre and Performance Design. I've never studied at LIPA personally but if I was in my teens, I might aspire to. Alongside regular classes, there are masterclasses and Q&A sessions with industry veterans and musicians. Previous guests have included Trevor Horn, Malcolm McClaren, Antony H. Wilson, Alan McGee, Cathy Dennis and Will Young.

I lived with 8 LIPA students last year and dealt directly with the institute in helping to set up…read moreand promote performances across the city! I must say, this place breeds talent on a huge scale and I'd never lived amongst such a great group of people before. What's more is they all spoke highly of LIPA and all that it has to offer. LIPA has a huge success rate and many affiliations across the performance industry. It offers classes in singer/song writing, music management, performance, community performance, dance, acting and a wealth of interlinked modules. It's an expensive place to study and can be a hard place to get into due to the amount of applications that the institute receives each year.. But it's a great place, a really sound place (Excuse the pun). LIPA students have a great social community and I was proud to be a part of it as I met some fantastic and talented people from all corners of the globe!

The gardens and cafe are great, si even if it's not a day to visit an art exhibit you still should…read moregive the bluecoat a go.

A beautiful Grade 1 listed building at the heart of the city centre, the Bluecoat is Liverpool's…read moremost ambitious and multi-disciplined arts centre. It's also the city's most stylish after a multi-million pound refurbishment and redevelopment programme a few years ago. The courtyard that once housed the Bluecoat cafe and bookshop has been made into a string of working studios for local designers like Purlesque and Landbaby to exhibit and sell their work whilst there's further studios for resident artists and creative businesses dotted throughout the building. There's also an Espresso bar on the ground floor, a restaurant on the first floor, a multi-purpose reception area, a gorgeous garden and various gallery exhibition spaces. As for the actual art, the Bluecoat runs bi-monthly exhibitions and installations by national and international artists and hosts literary events, poetry readings, live music, comedy nights, performance art and networking events. Admission to the building, shops and gallery is free and clearly, there's enough going on at the Bluecoat to keep visitors occupied for a full afternoon or evening.

Gorgeous creative space with 20 plus studios bursting at the seams with unique, one off pieces…read moreranging from jewellery to artwork. I LOVE this place, they showcase a lot of local talent. There is a cute coffee shop that sells the usual tea, coffee, cake and small plates so it's perfect for a coffee and a browse. Fun Fact: Back in the day this used to be the local fish market, the original features including the tiles still remain in tact. On some days I swear you can smell residual fishiness but that could just be my mind playing tricks on me!

Angela's absolutely right, this place is so easy to miss. When I first happened upon this place by…read moreaccident, thankfully after I'd hauled Lex G all over the Northern Quarter in an attempt to locate Teacup she still had the energy to spot this gorgeous, adorable building and say, 'What's that?' Me being the investigative yelper that I am said, 'I have no idea. Let's have a look.' Thank goodness we did, because I thought places like this only existed in small towns, at Cedar Farm (a beautiful little crafts-driven farm with shops in Mawdesley that I highly recommend... ahh, my rural homeland radius) or in Brighton. Literally, I felt like I'd stepped into somewhere along the seafront in my brother's resident city, because the last time I saw open studios and handmade jewellery for sale, I was indeed in that picturesque place by the sea. From the outside the building is pretty, but when you walk in it really takes your breath away. Delightful little exhibitions, artists at work... I instantly made a mental note to bring mothers here, mine or in-law, the next time they're in Manchester as they love places like this. The centre has such a lovely quaint feel to it, and goodness me, tranquil? I couldn't have felt more tranquil had you tipped a load of Kalms tablets down my throat and given me a Slanket and a chocolate Horlicks. And whether you're naturally a chilled out person or slightly neurotic and over-organised like myself, no doubt walking in here will instil in you a sense of calm that you'll struggle to find anywhere else in Manchester. The work for sale is exceptional, and I myself was instantly attracted to the wall hangings comprising of collages of iconic Manchester photographs, such as street signs, buildings, bands, restaurants and so forth. I could have stayed in here for hours.You're bound to come home with something special and unique here gifts-wise. Cafe Aromat has its own website and looks absolutely mouthwatering, so I promise that when we pop in again I'll get some munch there and let you know how it is. I know, I suffer for my art don't I. *Winks.*